Multi-system circular knitting maching having a pattern device

ABSTRACT

A multi-system circular knitting machine having a rotating needle carrier and a stationary cylindrical cam system and a device for producing patterned knitted fabric. A plurality of equidistantly mounted sets of non-rotating sliding members are adapted to coact with the staggered butts of jacks for rotating cylinder knitting needles. Each set of non-rotating sliding members corresponds to one of the knitting systems of the circular knitting machine. A single set of stacked electromagnetic positioning members are rotatably mounted in the circular knitting machine and is adapted to coact with all of the sets of non-rotating sliding members to position individual sliding members thereof for coaction with preselected butts of jacks in accordance with a knitting pattern. A pattern program storage device emits electric pulses in accordance with a selected pattern, said pulses being conducted to the set of stacked electromagnetic positioning members to actuate preselected positioning members in accordance with the emitted pulses. A control cam rotates synchronously with the needle cylinder and via locking bars in each set of non-rotating sliding members controls all sets of non-rotating sliding members. Each set of non-rotating sliding members comprises a stationary cam member which coacts with all electromagnetic positioning members, the latter being adapted to coact with so-called holding magnets which have a permanent magnetic portion and an energizable ejection coil.

United States Patent [191 Hamma [451 Dec. 17, 1974 MULTI-SYSTEM CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHING HAVING A PATTERN DEVICE [75] Inventor: Gerhard Hamma, Spaichlingen,

Germany [73] Assignee: Mayer & Cie. Maschinenfabrik, v

Tailfingen/Wuertt, Germany [22] Filed: Feb. 5, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 329,424

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Feb. 8, 1972 Germany 2205750.

[52] U.S. Cl 66/50 R [51] Int. Cl D04b 15/78 [58] Field of Search 66/50 R, 25

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,229,482 l/l966 Farmer 66/50 R 3,585,819 6/1971 Farmer et al. 66/50 R 3,807,197 4/1974 Plath 66/50 R FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 716,444 l/1942 Germany 66/50 R 1,941,639 2/1971 Germany... 66/50 R 1,950,846 4/1971 Germany 66/50 R 1,193.1 l8

5/1970 Great Britain 66/50 R Primary Examiner-Wm. Carter Reynolds 57 ABSTRACT A multi-system circular knittingmachine having a rotating needle carrier and a stationary cylindrical cam system and a device for producing patterned knitted fabric. A plurality of equidistantly mounted sets ofnon-rotating sliding members are adapted to coact with the staggered butts of jacks for rotating cylinder knitting needles. Each set of non-rotating sliding members corresponds to one of the knitting systems of the circular knitting machine. A single set of stacked electromagnetic positioning members are rotatably mounted in the circular knitting machine and is adapted to coact with all of .the sets of non-rotating sliding members to position individual sliding members thereof for coaction with preselected butts of jacks in accordance with a knitting pattern. A pattern program storage device emits electric pulses in accordance with a selected pattern, said pulses being con ducted to the set of stacked electromagnetic positioning members to actuate preselected positioning members in accordance with the emitted pulses. A control cam rotates synchronously with the needle cylinder and via locking bars in each set of non-rotating sliding members controls all sets of non-rotating sliding members. Each set of non-rotating sliding members comprises a stationary cam member which coacts with all electromagnetic positioning members, the latter being adapted to coact with so-called holding magnets which have a permanent magnetic portion and an energizable ejection coil.

' 3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTED 35E] 7 4 SHEET 10F 3 Fig. 7

PATENTEb 2581 7 I974 SHEET 30F 3 /mllllrllhl III]! lllll llllllllllll lllllllll'lllllllll lllllllllllllllllll MULTI- SYSTEM CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHING HAVING A PATTERN DEVICE REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION -said pattern device also being disclosed in the copending application Ser. No. 329,866 filed simultaneously with this application and corresponding to German application Ser. No. P 2205 750.7-26 filed-on Feb.

8, 1972, and being co-assigned to Firma Mayer & Cie., Maschinenfabrik of Tailfingen, West-Germany.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION adjust predetermined cylinder knitting needles of the circular knitting machine by acting on the correspond ing butts of jacks connected to said cylinder needles.

J acquard-pattern arrangements of the aforedescribed type for circular knitting machines are already known in the art; in such known Jacquard-pattern arrange ments the pattern selection is carried out by a set of non-rotating electromagnetic positioning members in lieu of the conventional pattern drum. The electromagnetic positioning members areelectrically controlled and adjusted in accordance with a pre-selected pattern. Since in the multi-system circular knitting machines there generally is required a pattern selection station for each knitting system, the aforedescribed electric pattern arrangements must have electromagnetic positioning members for each knitting system. This is accompanied with-the drawback that a corresponding.

large number of such electromagnetic positioning members is required, but also brings about a countervailing advantage in that with such electric pattern arrangements in combination with the adapted pattern program support there can be produced patterns of practically unlimited pattern width.

. system circular knitting machine of the aforedescribed type in which the electromagnetic pattern arrangement can be constructed with a substantially reduced number of electromagnetic positioning members without substantially limiting the'patterning possibilities. Such a pattern arrangement has already been proposed. It is therefore more specifically an object of this invention to provide the additional feature of technically improving the operation of such a device in that the cylinder knitting needles are selected in accordance with a pattern in a more secure and flawfree manner. The pattern arrangement of this invention includes only a single set of electromagnetic positioning members which are supported on a common support member which rotates synchronously with the needle carrier, said supporting member also supporting a control cam which controls all sets of non-rotating sliding members, each set of sliding members comprising a selection apparatus rep resenting a knitting system. Each selecting apparatus has stationary cam members which act on those electromagnetic positioning members which have been projected towards the needle cylinder and said stationary cam member is adapted to return them to their nonoperative positions. The electromagnetic positioning members are adapted to coact with so-called holding magnets, each-holding magnet comprising a permanent magnetic portion and an energizing coil.

Thus in the arrangement of the invention there is provided a pattern device comprising a single set of rotating electromagnetic positioning members, the number of which corresponds to the number of different butts arranged in the so-called oblique arrangement of pattern feet or butts of pattern jacks of the knitting needles which determines'as in the known mechanical pattern arrangement the pattern width by producing the corresponding number of loops. Thus the single set of rotating electromagnetic positioning members performs the same function as the conventional pattern drum which must be provided with new rods on the drum periphery in a time-consuming manner when the pattern is to be changed. By utilizing the so-called holding magnets which coact with the electromagnetic positioning members there is provided a very secure and energy-saving operation of the pattern arrangement. The energizing rectly or via an intermediate storage device, connected via contact rails and contact rods moving relative to the. rails with a common pattern program carrier. A pattern:

coils of the magnets of the selection apparatus are, di-

change can be carried out by a simple exchange of the pattern'program carrier in a very short time interval.

The selection apparatus of this invention can be arranged in a multi-system circular knitting machine so that it includes a mechanical locking mechanism which operates while the sliding members are moving or are at standstill and this locking mechanism can be actuated over a predetermined distance by the rotating control cam. The selection apparatus has also a common locking mechanism which acts on all positioning members when they are in their operative or inoperative position, said locking mechanism is actuated by a stationary annular cam member which extendsover the entire periphery of the machine. Thus, there is obtained a mechanical locking of those positioning members of the selection apparatus which have previously been selected by the corresponding magnets and placed in the selected position, that is a position in which the magnets are contacted'or a position in which the positioning members have been released from the magnets,

. whereby the coils of the electromagnets may not be energized or-may already be energized for the next 'following selection process. On the otherhand thesliding members of the individual selecting apparatuses are V only unlocked once during the selection process, which takes place once during the revolution of the machine. During the entire additional time of each machine revolution the sliding members remain however in the selectedoperative or inoperative position by being mechanically locked independently from the state in which the electromagnetic positioning members happento be.

The positioning members of the selection apparatus mounted in a recess of the corresponding selecting slider. The return springs of adjacent selecting sliders are offset relative to each other so that very short springs can be used and consequently the selecting sliders may be very short and the entire set of selecting sliders may be mounted in a space-saving and masssaving manner. In order to reduce the wear of the selecting sliders-in the region of each pattern selection station, that is at each stationary selecting apparatus, wherein wear and noise may occur during the contacting between the selecting sliders and the holding magnets, the sets of non-rotating sliding members may be provided with spring mounted stationary cam members.

The rotating control cam which acts on the common locking mechanism for the selection apparatuses and the stationary cam member which acts on a contact lever having a contact roller, which adjusts the common locking mechanism for all selecting sliders of the selecting apparatus, are operable relative to each other in such a way that the common locking mechanism of the selecting apparatus is released before the selecting sliders have made contact with the stationary cam member of each selecting apparatus and only reach the locked position behind the operative range of the stationary cam member of each selecting apparatus. The unlocking of the pattern sliders of a selection apparatus occurs only, when the selecting sliders of the said selection apparatus, which have been adjusted according to a pattern, are again locked in position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 19, on which is supported the also rotating common pattern device 20 and an also rotating electric intermediate storage device 21. Electric signals are transmitted via the slide rods 16 and slide rings 18 from a nonillustrated program carrier and supply portion with control pulses which is mounted in a switching drawer 22.

FIG. 1 also illustrates one of the selecting apparatuses which is mounted on the stationary cam plate 11. Furthermore, the needle cylinder 26 is also shown.

' the only constructional arrangement of interest in this In order that the invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect, reference will now be had to the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 illustrates a partially radial sectional view in perspective of a portion of a circular knitting machine illustrating certain portions of the pattern device of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic horizontal sectional view of a peripheral portion of the circular knitting machine showing a rotating pattern apparatus and a few stationary selecting apparatuses;

FIG. 3 is an elevational partially sectional view of the circular knitting machine in the direction of the arrow III in FIG.'2; and

FIG. 4 is a schematic view in the direction of the arrow III in FIG. 2 showing the manner in which the magnets are arranged in the pattern apparatus and also partially showing the set of pattern sliding members of the pattern apparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT There is shown in FIG. 1 a radial sectional view in perspective of the stationary portions of the circular application, can be more clearly observedfrom the illustrations of FIGS. 2 to 4. The horizontal sectional view of FIG. 2 showsthe rotating pattern device 20, which has three rows of holding magnets 30, offset with respect to each other, which coact with an anchor part 31 of each electromagnetic positioning member 32. All positioning members 32 are arranged parallelly relative to each other one over the other in a housing 33 wherein each positioning member 32 is slidably radially movable. Each positioning member-32 has three cutouts 35 in one of which there is mounted a return coil spring 34 which biases the corresponding positioning member 32 away from the corresponding holding magnet 30.'The return springs '34 of adjacent positioning members 32 are mounted in different cut-outs 35 (not ated stop-notches 36 and 37into which a lock bar 38,

common to allpositioning members 32, is adapted to engage. The lock bar 38 engages into the stop-notch 36 32 is in its radially retracted position. The lock bar 38 is connected by means of a non-illustrated conventional linkage with a contact lever 39, said contact lever 39 having a contact roller 40 rotatably mounted at its free end, said contact roller 40 travelling over an annular control cam 41. The control cam 41 consists of a plurality of cam members 42. .The control cam is mounted on the supporting cam ring 14 and acts via the contactroller 40 on the lock bar 38 in such a way that it alternately releases and locks in position the positioning members 32. I

The circular knitting machine forming part of the invention furthermore has for each knitting system a stationary selecting apparatus 25 which is mounted on the cam plate 11. This selecting apparatus has the conventional set of juxtaposed non-rotating sliding members 45, each of which has a radially inwardly situated contact edge 46 for contacting the butts 47 of the jacks coacting with the cylinder needles by being slidably and pivotally displaceable within the vertical conventional grooves provided in the needle cylinder 26. The sliding members 45 are arranged parallelly in a housing 44 and are longitudinally radially slidable. Each one of the sliding members 45 is mounted at the level of one electromagnetic positioning member 32 of the rotating pattern device so that the positioning member 32, when in its radially projected position, contacts the radially outward end of a sliding member 45. This contacting results in a longitudinal radially inward sliding movement of the contacted sliding member 45 against the force of a return spring 49 in the direction towards needle cylinder 26.

The butts 47 of the jacks are also mounted in the needle cylinder 26 in the conventional known arrangement wherein the butts are arranged in an oblique staggered relationship. Thus the butts 47 of adjacent jacksare situated at different levels and thereby move into the operative range of different non-rotating sliding members 45. Thus, adjacent jacks of the large number of jacks arranged around the periphery of the needle cylinder are not acted on by the same sliding members 45 but by different ones, and therefore the jacks which are acted on by the same sliding member 45 of a selecting apparatus are situated at a certain circumferential distance from eachother which suffices to make it possible to adjust the corresponding sliding member during the travel time between two such butts 47 passing one and the same sliding member 45. j

The non-rotating sliding members 45 also have two lateral stop notches 50 and 51 into'which a lock bar 52 is adapted to engage, said lock bar being common to all sliding members 45 of one selecting apparatus 25. The lock bar 52 is acted on by a control cam 53 which rotates jointly with the pattern device 20, whereby said control cam 53 is adapted to place the lock bar 52 into a position in which it releases the sliding members 45 of the selecting apparatus 25 for radial movement.

At the rearward end of each selecting apparatus 25, taken in the rotational direction of the circular knitting machine, there is mountedin a springy manner (not illustrated) a stationary cam 'member 54 onto which all electromagnetic positioning members, which are in their radially projected inward position, bear against, so that they are forceablyslid into their radially outward contacting position in which their anchors 31 contact the holding magnets 30.

56. The lock bar 52 furthermore has an obliquely ex-- tending lower end 57 which is contacted by the rotating control cam 53 thereby moving the lock bar 52 upwardly and out of engagement with the stop notches 50.

and 51. After the control cam 53 has passed the stationary corresponding lock bar 52 the latter is returned to its lower position by means of a return spring 58 in which it again engages the stop notches 50 or 51 of the sliding members 45.

FIG. 3 also illustrates in detail a portion of the locking mechanism for the rotating pattemdevice 20. Thus there is illustrated a pivoting lever 59 which is connected via a turning shaft 60 with the contact roller 40 of the lever 39. The free end of the lever 59 acts on a rod 61 slidably mounted within the pattern device 20 which acts on the lock bar 38 which is common to all electromagnetic positioning members 32. The lock bar -38 is mounted in a manner similar to the lock bar 52.

FIG. 4 illustrates a side elevational view of three parallel columns of holding magnets 30 wherein the holding magnets 30 of each column are offset relative to the holding magnets of the adjacent column, the horizontal pair of lines in each plane representing the two pole shoes of each holding magnet. Each holding magnet coacts with one of the electromagnetic positioning members 32 which are arranged one over the other in'a central stack. Each holding magnet includes the conventional permanent magnetic portion and an ejection coil. The electromagnetic positioning members 32 are held via their anchor portions 31 by means of the permanent magnetic portion of the holding magnet 30 when the positioning members 32 are slid radially outwardly clue to contacting a stationary cam member 54 against the holding magnet 30, that is in the radial-outward position, so long as an oppositely acting control pulse causes the corresponding ejection coil of the holding magnet to release the corresponding electromagnetic positioning member 32 which then slides radially inwardly if it is released by the common lock bar 38. The stationary control cam 41 is therefore shaped in such a way that it brings about in combination with the contact lever 39 a release of the lock bar 38 in the rotational direction shortly before the operative range of the stationary cam member 54 of the selecting apparatusl25, so that the stationary cam members 54 can return all those positioning members 32 which have been placed in their radially inward position are returned to their radial outward position in which they contact the holding magnets 30. After the stationary cam member 54 has been passed all those positioning members 32 are returned via the action of the return spring 34 to their radially inward position the holding magnets of which have received an ejection pulse from the electric pattern arrangement. Thereafter the lock bar 38 is bers 32 haveacted on the released sliding members 45 of the next following stationary selecting apparatus 25 which have been returned into their radially outward position by the action of the return springs 49,-said sliding members 45 being again projected into their radially inward operative position. lmmediately thereafter the lock bar 38 is again placed in its releasing position so that all positioning members 32 can be returned by the stationary cam member 54 onto the holding magnet 30 contacting position and a new selecting process for the electromagnetic positioning members 32 can be carried out.

Thus the sliding members 45 are always unlocked by the action-of the rotating control cam 53 which rotates jointly with the pattern device shortly before the arrival of the positioning members 32 of the selecting apparatus 20 in the region of the sliding members 45 of the selecting apparatus and are again locked immediatelyafter the passing of the positioning members 32. There occurs in the intermediate space between two sequentially following stationary selecting apparatuses 25 a new selection in accordance with the pattern of the-positioning members 32. The selected positioning members 32 which have been placed in their radially inward projected position contact the radial outwardly situated end 48 of the sliding members 45 of the next following selecting apparatus 25 and displace these sliding members in the direction of needle cylinder 26 into an operative position as illustrated in FIG. 2. In this operative position, the butts 47 contact the control surface 46 at the radial inward end of the sliding members 45 whereby the butts are pushed in a known manner into the guide grooves in the needle cylinder 26 and thereby are placed outside the operative range of a non-illustrated ejection cam portion. Thus the acted on jacks are not actuated by the ejection cam and the knitting needles coacting with these acted on jacks are correspondingly also not acted on and do not engage a thread. t

It should also be noted that it is within the concept of this invention to use ordinary conventional electromagnets with energizing coils and soft iron cores. In

such a case these electromagnets are energized for a I time interval which extends to a point in time wherein the positioning members are again locked via the lock bar. The non-energized electromagnets release their corresponding positioning member which are pulled away from them by means of their return springs before the lock bar action is again carried out.

Although the invention is illustrated and described with reference to one preferred embodiment thereof, it is to be expressly understood that it is in no way limited to the disclosure of such a preferred embodiment, but is capable of numerous modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

I. In a multi-system circular knitting machine having a rotating needle cylinder provided with a plurality of guide grooves and a stationary cam cylinder and a plurality of cylinder needles and jacks reciprocally mo'vably mounted in said guide grooves, an improved device for producing a knitted fabric, comprising in combination,

a plurality of equidistantly mounted means for supporting sets of non-rating sliding members, each non-rotating sliding member being slidable in its supporting means to assume a radially inward operative position and a radially outward inoperative position, said sliding members when in their operative positions being adapted to engage preselected ones of said plurality ofjacks, whereby each set of sliding members corresponds to a knitting system of the multi-system knitting machines;

means for supporting a single set of positioning members, said supporting means being rotatable in the circular knitting machine synchronously withsaid needle cylinder and each positioning member of said set of positioning members being movable, from an inoperative position to an operative posi-' tion wherein it is adapted tocoact with preselected sliding members of all sets of said non-rotating sliding members so as to position said preselected sliding members into their operative position by slidingly moving them radially-inwards;

a control cam mounted on said means for supporting said positioning members, said control cam coacting with all sets of non-rotatingsliding members to lock the sliding members of each set in place at predetermined time intervals;

each one of said means for supporting sets of nonrotating sliding members comprises a stationary cam member which coacts with those positioning members of said set of positioning members which are in their operative position to return them to their inoperative position when said rotating means for supporting positioning members passes by said stationary cam member;

a set of holding magnets corresponding to the number of positioning members and mounted on the same means .which support said positioning members, each positioning'member is adapted to coact with a holding magnet; and

a pattern program storage device electrically connected to each holding magnet for selectively energizing it to thereby release the corresponding positioning member; wherein each of said means for supporting sets of non-rotating sliding members comprises a first locking mechanism adapted to coact with said control cam so as to lock preselected non-rotating sliding members in each set into their operative or inoperative positions, and wherein said means for supporting said single set of positioning members comprises a second locking mechanism, an annular stationary control cam mounted in the circular knitting machine, said second locking mechanism being adapted to coact with said annular control cam so as to lock prese- -a rotating needle cylinder provided with a plurality of guide grooves and a stationary cam cylinder and a plurality of cylinder needles and jacks reciprocally movably mounted in said guide grooves, the improved device as set forth in claim 2, wherein said second locking mechanism comprises a lever having a' free end, a locking bar slidably mounted in said means for supporting said single set of positioning members and adapted to move to a releasing and to a locking position in which all positioning members are locked in their operative or inoperative positions, said lever being rotatably mounted in said supporting means for said single set of positioning members and having a roller mounted at its free end which engages said annular stationary control cam, said annular stationary control cam and said stationary cam member being so constructed and arranged that .said locking bar is moved to its releasing position before a stationary cam member contacts said positioning members which are in their operative positions and moves into its locking position after said stationary cam member has been bypassed by said set of positioning members. i t 

1. In a multi-system circular knitting machine having a rotating needle cylinder provided with a plurality of guide grooves and a stationary cam cylinder and a plurality of cylinder needles and jacks reciprocally movably mounted in said guide grooves, an improved device for producing a knitted fabric, comprising in combination, a plurality of equidistantly mounted means for supporting sets of non-rating sliding members, each non-rotating sliding member being slidable in its supporting means to assume a radially inward operative position and a radially outward inoperative position, said sliding members when in their operative positions being adapted to engage preselected ones of said plurality of jacks, whereby each set of sliding members corresponds to a knitting system of the multi-system knitting machines; means for supporting a single set of positioning members, said supporting means being rotatable in the circular knitting machine synchronously with said needle cylinder and each positioning member of said set of positioning members being movable from an inoperative position to an operative position wherein it is adapted to coact with preselected sliding members of all sets of said non-rotating sliding members so as to position said preselected sliding members into their operative position by slidingly moving them radially inwards; a control cam mounted on said means for supporting said positioning members, said control cam coacting with all sets of non-rotating sliding members to lock the sliding members of each set in place at predetermined time intervals; each one of said means for supporting sets of non-rotating sliding members comprises a stationary cam member which coacts with those positioning members of said set of positioning members which are in their operative position to return them to their inoperative position when said rotating means for supporting positioning members passes by said stationary cam member; a set of holding magnets corresponding to the number of positioning members and mounted on the same means which support said positioning members, each positioning member is adapted to coact with a holding magnet; and a pattern program storage device electrically connected to each holding magnet for selectively energizing it to thereby release the corresponding positioning member; wherein each of said means for supporting sets of non-rotating sliding members comprises a first locking mechanism adapted to coact with said control cam so as to lock preselected non-rotating sliding members in each set into their operative or inoperative positions, and wherein said means for supporting said single set of positioning members comprises a second locking mechanism, an annular stationary control cam mounted in the circular knitting machine, said second locking mechanism being adapted to coact with said annular control cam so as to lock preselected positioning members in their operative or inoperative positions.
 2. In a multi-system circular knitting machine having a rotating needle cylinder provided with a plurality of guide grooves and a stationary cam cylinder and a plurality of cylinder needles and jacks recipRocally movably mounted in said guide grooves, the improved device as set forth in claim 1, comprising biasing means operatively connected to each positioning member so as to urge the positioning member away from its associated holding magnet.
 3. In a multi-system circular knitting machine having a rotating needle cylinder provided with a plurality of guide grooves and a stationary cam cylinder and a plurality of cylinder needles and jacks reciprocally movably mounted in said guide grooves, the improved device as set forth in claim 2, wherein said second locking mechanism comprises a lever having a free end, a locking bar slidably mounted in said means for supporting said single set of positioning members and adapted to move to a releasing and to a locking position in which all positioning members are locked in their operative or inoperative positions, said lever being rotatably mounted in said supporting means for said single set of positioning members and having a roller mounted at its free end which engages said annular stationary control cam, said annular stationary control cam and said stationary cam member being so constructed and arranged that said locking bar is moved to its releasing position before a stationary cam member contacts said positioning members which are in their operative positions and moves into its locking position after said stationary cam member has been bypassed by said set of positioning members. 